Compound-spring arch-support.



G. A, RUNKEL. COMPOUND SPRING ARCH SUPPORT.

Pafented Nov. 13, 1917.

.VBY v siijomo v Arroaur'q GRANT A. RUNKEL, 0F LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA.

COMPOUND-SPRING ARCH-SUPPORT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. Nov. 13, 191 '7.

Application filed June 12, 1917. Serial No. 174,325.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GRANT A. RUNKEL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lancaster, in the county of Lancaster and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Compound- Spring Arch-Supports, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to boots and shoes, and more especially to arch supports; and the object of the same is to produce an improved device of this character which may be inserted in the boot or shoe or other piece of footwear by the purchaser without the use of tools or fastening devices, its ultimate object being to support a fallen arch, restore parts of the foot to their normal position, give comfort and ease to the wearer, and avoid the suffering and inconveniences incident to the well-known afiiiction of fallen arch.

The invention consists in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, and as shown in the drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a bottom plan view of my arch support as adapted for application to the right shoe.

Fig. 2 is a cross section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an edge view of the lower plate looking from the inner side of the foot, the full lines showing the plate in its normal position, and the dotted lines showing how it looks when compressed.

Fig. 1 is an edge view of the upper plate, taken also from the inside of the foot, and with the insole attached, this view illustrating how the fingers of this plate may yield to conform with the arch of the foot, whether required by the peculiar shape of the latter or by the movements of the muscles as the foot moves in walking or otherwise.

In the drawings I have used the letter S l to designate the sole of the shoe, and this element appears only in Fig. 2. I have used the letter I to designate what I will call an insole, made preferably of leather and shapedto fit upon the sole of the shoe. I claim no novelty in these elements although I expect to supply the insole with the arch support because it is attached thereto in a manner set forth below. Without further illustration itwill be clear that my device is made in pairs, one member for the right foot and, the other for the left, and the insoles will be shaped accordingly. While I'have shown the insole in Fig. 1 as cut off at the front and rounded at the heel, and while such is my preferred construction, it may have other shapes and it might in fact be extended clear to the toe of the shoe. Also I do not wish to be limited as to its material,and of course its size will vary according to the shoe to be fitted.

The metal portion of my improved arch support is shown in the drawings and described in the following specification as made in two pieces although it might be possible to make the two pieces or plates as one, and in this respect I do not wish to be limited. Experiment has shown me that it is perhaps easier to make the plates separate, and connect them with each other by rivets along their outer edges, but here again I do not wish to be limited for other devices than rivets might be employed, and of course there would be no fastening devices necessary if the two plates were integrally connected. Furthermore, I do not wish to be limited to the configuration of either plate as disclosed in the drawings herewith, as the shape of every element of an arch support must of course be such as to give the best support to the foot and to cause the device to conform as nearly as may be to the human arch when in normal condition, while yet adapting itself to the arch after it has perhaps commenced to break. I may say, therefore, that the matters of shape referred to hereinafterespecially with respect to the lower or main plateare such as relate more to its bearing on the shoe sole for the purpose of giving it the best resiliency, than to the arch or the movements of the foot. The sizes and materials of parts are of course unimportant. The insole will probably be of leather, and the other element of spring metal of proper grade.

Coming now to the details of construction of the two plates mentioned above, the main or lower plate l is by preference slightly rounded along the line 2 at its outer edge; then said edge is provided with two lobes 3, and beyond these in turn the plate is continued in two arms 4 standing at a wide obtuse angle to each other and projecting toward the inner edge of the plate. These.

are connected by an incurve forming the inner edge 6 of plate, which edge is practic-ally of a length equal to the outer edge 2 and both the outer lobes 3. In Fig. 1 I have dotted a line 7 through what might 'be called the center of this plate for reference purposes merel It will be seen that the outer half, from said line to the edge 2, is practically solid; whereas the inner half from the line to said edge 6 and out both arms and their rounded tips, may be said to be bifurcated. The entire plate is now arched slightly on a line tran verse to its center line 7, the arching of its outer half being less than that of its inner half. The lobes 3 are then bent up slightly, with the result that they rest on the shoe-sole S and the outer edge also rests thereon near the outer edge of the shoe and forward of the heel; wherethe curved tips or lobes 5 also rest on the shoe sole at the inner side of the shoe, but the inner edge 6 is arched above said sole some little distance. In other words, he lower plate 1 is supported from the sole by four contact points which are the lobes mentioned, and it may be that the outer edge 2 also contacts with the sole, although this is not necessary. It will be seen from Fig. 1 that the width of this plate is considerably less than that of the insole, and the latter overlies the plate where it is cut out along its inner edge 6.

The upper or auxiliary plate 11 is also preferably curved along its outer edge as at 12 into substantial coincidence with the curved edge 2 of the main plate, its end edges 13 are practically parallel with each other, its body is slitted as at 14: and 15 to produce a plurality of fingers 16 along the inner edge of this plate, and said inner edge is struck on a large outcurve 17 which overlies the space between the lobes 5 of the main plate. The result is that the several fingers extend for almost their complete length beyond the inner edge of the main plate and are supported only by their juncture with the outer edge portion or body of the auxiliary plate. Said body is attached to what might be called the body of the main plate by rivets or screws as indicated at 18, and the insole is attached to the enclmost fingers by rivets or screws 19. The result of so attaching the two plates is that the outer edge of the auxiliary plate is given a slight arch conforming with that of the outer edge 2 of the main plate, but this will be only such as will conform with the normal arch in the sole S of the shoe. Now the several fingers are turned upward to a considerable degree, as best seen in Fig. 2 of the drawings, and of course they carry the insole I with them, yet the fact that the fingers are individually connected with the body of the upper plate permits them also to follow the longitudinal arch of theinner edge 6 of the main plate to certain extent. The result is that the insole as supported by this plate is dished transversely of the foot and arched slightly longitudinally of the foot. As previously suggested, I do not wish to be limited in respect to dimensions, as the article will of course necessarily be adapted to the foot which is to be supported, and adaptation will include considera tion of the size of the wearers foot as well as the shape of a foot which might be quite out of normal.

lVhen now a support of this character is placed within the shoe, the four lobes of the main plate rest upon the sole S and the midlength of its inner edge 6 is arched above said sole; the oute edge 12 of the auxiliary plate 11, where it is secured to the corresponding edge of the main plate, overlies the outer edge of the sole and possibly also rests thereon, but the fingers 16 of this )late curve upward above the cutout at the inner edge 6 of the main plate; and the insole I overlying both plates and extending well in rear and well in front of SJ them and for the full width of the shoe, affords a reliable support for the arch of the foot if the same be noJmal or nearly normal. If however, said arch has fallen, it will be clear that the wearer's weight placed upon the foot bears down upon the center of this device, and this pressure is resisted to an extent by the upward tendency of the arched lower plate along its edge 6, as well as by the upward tendency of the inner ends of the several fingers 16. If the arch of the foot has fallen to a serious extent, it may be considered desirable to treat the foot first with an arch support whose parts are not bent to an extreme such as illustrated in the drawings, and after he arch of the foot has been corrected partially, follow with a corrected or more radical support of this character so as to complete the treatment. However, we may leave the use of the device to the expert. I have found by experiment that it is only in rare cases that it will be inconvenient or impossible to insert the device bodily in the shoe and put the foot upon it; in fact the wearer immediately experiences a sense of relief and support which is extremely restful. If the arch of the foot has fallen along the inner side (and it rarely falls along the outer side) the yielding of the spring fingers 16 combines with the yielding of the lower plate so that the transverse dish of the insole may flatten out slightly or its longitudinal arch may flatten out slightly, or bothaccording to the pressure thrown upon it by an ab normal foot, and this I consider the principal feature of my invention. Manifestly this would be impossible with a rigid arch, or with an arch support made of a single plate, because if a single plate were dished in one direction and arched in the other it could not spring or yield in both directions simultaneously. Therefore I may say at closing that in reality I prefer to make the metallic portions of this device in two parts, not only to render it possible for them to spring simultaneously in both directions, but also because the plates may be of different metals or of different degrees of resiliency if found desirable.

hat is claimed as new is 1. The herein described compound spring arch support, the same comprising a lower plate following the contour of the shoe-sole along its outer edge and longitudinally arched out of normal contact with the sole along its inner edge, and an upper plate overlying the lower plate and secured thereon along its outer edge, with its inner edge curved upward out of contact with the inner edge of said lower plate.

2. The herein described compound spring arch support, the same comprising a lower plate following the contour of the shoe-sole along its outer edge and longitudinally arched out of normal contact with the sole along its inner edge, and an upper plate whose outer edge is in substantial coincidence with and secured upon that of the lower plate and whose inner edge is curved upward out of contact with the inner edge of the lower plate, and slitted into a plurality of fingers and both plates being of resilient metal.

3. The herein described compound spring arch support, the same comprising a lower plate following the contour of the shoe-sole along its outer edge, having its body longitudinally arched out of normal contact with the sole, and its inner edge out on an incurve defined by arms whose tips are normally in contact with the shoe sole; and an upper plate overlying and secured along its outer edge to the lower plate, and having its inner edge slitted into fingers which are upbent above the cut-out edge of the lower plate, both plates being of resilient material.

4. The herein described compound spring arch support, the same comprising a lower plate having its outer edge following the contour of the shoe-sole and provided with two lobes, arms at its ends disposed at a wide obtuse angle to each other and having lobes at their tips, and its inner edge out out on an incurve between said tips and nor- 'lELllY arched so that only its lobes lie in contact with said sole; an upper plate secured at its outer edge upon the lower plate alon the outer edge of the latter and having ngers at its inner edge upturned above the cut-out portion of the lower plate, both plates being of spring metal; and a flexible insole overlying and secured to the upper plate, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

GRANT A. RUNKEL.

Witnesses:

N. L. GOLLAMER, K. A. MAHoNEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.. 

